My friend has a 1881 $5 coin that he wanted to sale to a dealer..well I am thinking of buying it from him due to the history of the coin though I Am unfamiliar with value of gold coins and wanted some help and opinions. What do u think would be a good offer or would it be better to pass on it and get something in better condition? Thanks for your help, Cheers Mark
Although old, this is a common date in common condition, and should retail from dealer to a collecting customer at about $375. Dealer-to-dealer wholesale is published as $330, but most dealers want to buy these coins at a discount because they don't want to tie up their funds in expensive coins with the low margins associated with gold coinage. The gold alone is worth nearly $275. In your shoes, I would probably offer your friend about $325.
If it were me I would pass on this one and go for one a little better. Graded AU58's have been going for around $380-400 and MS63's for about $525 on Ebay. I would probably go for something like that. To give you an idea an AU55 just went for $325 and I'm guessing the one you have here is not AU55.
That looks like a perfectly attractive EF-AU $5 Lib. If you want the coin, I see no reason why you shouldn't buy it. Completed sales on Ebay have been in the range recently of $310 to $350 for EF-AU coins, so if you are somewhere in that range then you are probably fine.
I doubt if that coin would go EF, it's too "flat" and thoroughly nicked-up. WLH22 has the right answer - pass, spend $40 more, and get a graded AU slider.
I must disagree about the grade . . . the pictured coin should grade XF45 on any given day. Still, if the OP is willing to part with more money for a nicer piece, an MS63 is a numismatic bargain at today's prices, and a much better place to put one's money for opportunistic profit-taking.
I defer to a guy with an eBay Store, folks who know the market. I would have thought moving up to MS-63 involves considerable bucks, but I guess not.
MS63 are selling for about $525-530. I try to buy the nice ones when I see them. The jump comes at MS64.
I was just at a coin show last weekend and while I was buying a $10 OGH piece the guy next to me was paying $530 for a PCGS MS63 OGH $5 Liberty. I wish I had been 5 mins earlier to the table.
